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Graduate Show – Meglomania

A graduate from Gray’s School of Art has seen his first solo exhibition go on display at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery.

David McDiarmid (24), who graduated from the art school with a BA (Hons) in Painting last year, is currently exhibiting work from his 2013 Degree Show alongside new pieces inspired by the history and architecture of Venice, where he recently lived and worked.

The show, called ‘Megalomania’, is on display until Saturday, May 10. It seeks to examine the status of megalomania in architecture and the means by which the built environment is often designed, constructed and used as a tool for power, propaganda and legacy.

David said: “During my time in Venice I was very drawn to the endless examples of Venetian marble, real and fake, and sought to further investigate the elegance and grandeur of this material in my newer work.

“My past work has drawn influence from the architectural histories of cities such as London, Berlin, Rome and Moscow and examines the scale, size, form and process in creating architecture of power and control, as well as the impact this has on the people who experience it.”

David often paints surfaces cast with cement or concrete, juxtaposing them with precious, or semi-precious, materials such as gold leaf and faux marble to explore the artifice of grandeur.

He added: “Holding your first solo exhibition is always a huge milestone in any artist’s life and I’m delighted to have been given this opportunity by the gallery so soon after graduating.

“The installation and presentation of my paintings and models is always a very conscious and important decision due to the way it can influence a viewer behaviourally or emotionally, like the architecture of power is designed to do.

“The gallery is a great space and has provided me with the perfect setting to explore and develop new ideas further.”